"They said 'If you don't agree with us, you must leave,'" Guerry Green, who was named senior warden of the "loyal" vestry in 2004, said. "How can you just toss people out whose ancestors have held this church together for generations? It is a sad and tragic affair." The All Saints property dispute trial in the Georgetown County Courthouwill continue into next week.

The case, which will be decided by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cooper and a jury of 16, will settle a six-year dispute about who owns 60 acres of property where All Saints Church stands on Kings River Road, and which vestry has the right to call itself All Saints. Henrietta Golding, attorney for the plaintiffs - those who voted to leave the Diocese and the National Episcopal Church - rested her case Wednesday.

Sam Hines, attorney for the defendants - the Diocese, National Episcopal Church and those who did not vote to leave - called his first four witnesses on Wednesday and Thursday. Golding's last witness, Kathlene Jordan, corporate secretary of All Saints Parish Waccamaw, testified that prior to the split, there were 808 members in the All Saints parish.

There were 11 people on the vestry, the governing body of the church, and two of those were the junior and senior warden. She said that on Dec. 9, 2003, 60 members of the church, including the vestry, held a special meeting to amend the articles of incorporation to "more accurately reflect their mission statement."

On Jan. 8, 2004, they held a congregational meeting to amend the charter and to decide whether to stay with the Episcopal Diocese of S.C. and the National Episcopal Church.

At this meeting, 507 members attended and 464 members voted to alter the charter and 468 voted to leave the Diocese and the National Church. "I signed the official forms and mailed them to the Secretary of State in Columbia," Jordan said.

One of the defense's witnesses, Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese Eugene Ziegler, stated that when the vestry and the members decided to leave the Diocese and the National Church, they gave up their positions in the Episcopal Church and therefore did not have any power to make any decisions concerning All Saints Parish.

"The vestry decided to leave the Episcopal Church by its official action," Ziegler said. He went on to testify that the real and personal property at All Saints Waccamaw is "held in trust for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and the National Episcopal Church."

This is according to the canons, or laws of the church, for the S.C. Episcopal Diocese Another witness for the defense, George Townsend, who has served as secretary and archivist for All Saints Church, testified that she found the 1745 trust deed issued by Purcival and Anna Pawley. This deed is the basis for the plaintiff's case that the All Saints Parish Waccamaw should be owned by the people of the Waccamaw Neck.

Townsend found the deed in 1985 in Charleston archives after several years of searching. She brought a copy of the deed back to Pawleys Island and it hung on the wall of the church office for several years. She also prepared a transcript of the deed to be displayed alongside it. Not one of those who voted to leave the Diocese and national Episcopal Church, Townsend says she is related by blood to Purcival and George Pawley. "It doesn't matter how far down the blood line you are, it is still blood," she said. The case will be decided next week.

NOTE: In Wednesday's story about the All Saints property dispute trial, there were a few minor corrections to be made. Bishop Salmon has been bishop of the S.C. Episcopal Diocese for 17 years (not seven as reported). Ann Mercer, one of the plaintiff's witnesses, has never served on the vestry (governing body) of All Saints Church. Perrin Q. "Pep" Dargan was incorrectly identified as Charles Darden.

Copyright Georgetown Times 2006